Hart Club
When I look back at learning Art in my school days or in my brief time doing an art foundation at Camberwell, I think about my teachers and realise I didn’t love, admire or know any of them really. This used to disappoint me. I thought about how other people seemed to always think of a teacher who had inspired them, and I felt I was missing out on that teacher-student, master-disciple connection. I felt discouraged because I didn’t get the impression my teachers really believed in me.
After school and one term at Camberwell, I stubbornly tried to complete a Creative Writing degree at UEA while feeling very lonely and depressed. I think I was socialising less. It was around this time I started making paintings and drawings with the intention of selling them i.e. I was trying to become an artist. But I felt alienated from the art world, unsure how to progress further with an art career when I had not gained a formal Art degree. I had no idea how to exhibit and sell my work. I was taking little steps but still I had no clue—absolutely no clue—what I was doing. University ended and lockdown started and I was even more lost. How the hell could I possibly start a little art career when a global pandemic had affected the world?
Then my mum, an acupuncturist, showed me an email she had received from a visiting patient. This visiting patient was Helen Ralli, the founder of Hart Club, and in that email, she said she would like to invite me to take part in a year-long course they were starting (my mum had showed her some pictures of my work). When I first met Helen, I was immediately sold; I knew Hart School was going to be important although I had no idea how much the people in this organisation would come to mean to me. I was simply excited about the prospect of making art and putting it on display.
The course began in July 2021, and we would visit three days a week for the first three months, and one day a week for the remaining nine months. During this time, many a workshop took place. We made all sorts of art, using all sorts of mediums—paint, clay, various printmaking techniques, for example—and we met all sorts of wonderful artists who loved their craft. At last, I was beginning to meet and make lasting friendships with fellow creatives. That feeling of alienation I had previously felt dissipated. Hart Club, with all its welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, finally made me feel like a real artist.
Hart Club really is quite a rare thing. It’s a community, devoid of competition, full of compassion. It’s open to all and it’s a sigh of relief for neurodivergent artists trying to navigate a neurotypical art industry. Everyone is friendly, respectful, and genuinely wants to know about you. And this is noteworthy because in Hart Club, there is no hierarchy. There are no critical school teachers looming over you telling you you’re only going to get a low A. Instead, there is, as James Randell, a Hart Club member, would say, just ‘good vibes’. There is pure friendship. And this, I truly believe, is what pushes people further. Not harsh criticism and elitist art snobbery, but compassion and joy and sheer love for making art.
There are too many words to describe the joys of Hart Club, but please feel free to browse the website and keep an eye out for any more exciting upcoming projects!
